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Understanding Pooled Form Section Assigments/Overivew & When to Use

Often, at the time of form assignment, you do not know  exactly who will complete a subsequent section of a form, or the work needs to be handled by any available member of a designated group or role. A Pooled Section is a specific part or step of a multi-user form assignment that is routed to a shared role, group, or department pool rather than an individual person.

 What is a Pooled Section Assignment for a Form? 

A pooled section assignment occurs when a specific section within a multi-user form is assigned to a collective group—such as a designated role, job classification, business unit, or permission group—rather than to a single named employee.

  • In standard individual assignments, a form section is directed to one specific person (e.g., Jane Doe). If that person is absent, the form halts.
  • In a pooled section assignment, the section enters a shared queue accessible to all qualified members possessing that role or belonging to that group within the business unit.
  • Any authorized member of the pool can view the submission, 'claim' the section, complete the required inputs, and submit it to advance the workflow.
  • Until claimed, accountability remains with the group pool. Once claimed, responsibility transfers to the individual who claimed it.

How to Assign a Form Section to a Pool (Admin App) 

Form administrators and designers configure pooled section assignments in the Admin App via Form Builder:

  1. Access Form Builder: In the Admin App, navigate to Forms > Form Builder and open the multi-user form.
  2. Enable Multi-User & Advanced Collaboration:
    • In the top-level Multi-User settings, ensure "Multiple users are required to complete this form" is enabled.
    • Check "Enable advanced collaboration for this form" to support cross-functional section visibility and workflow tracking.
      Form Builder - Enable advanced collaboration for this form checkbox
  3. Configure Section Assignment to a Role / Pool:
    • Select the specific section intended for group completion.
    • Under the section's Manage Secondary Assignees settings, configure the assignment to a Role (rather than a specific named user).
      Form Builder - Manage Secondary Assignees button
    • Specify the target Role and applicable Business Unit or group criteria.
      Form Builder - Secondary Assignees - assigned to - access-collaboration
  4. Set Collaboration and Reassignment Permissions:
    • Configure whether secondary assignees can reassign sections or view other assignees across the workflow.
    • If manual assignment is allowed at runtime, specify whether the primary assignee or secondary assignees have permission to assign or reassign sections.
  5. Save and Publish: Save the section configuration and publish the updated form to make it active in the Form Library.
  6. Create a Form Library Item
  7. Assign the form to users via Form Submission Manager

How a Form with a pooled section shows in Forms Explorer (Main App)

Forms with pooled sections display in Forms Explorer depending on whether the section is currently unclaimed or claimed, as well as the viewer's role and permissions. 

The Assigned to My Role tab

  • Any active user who holds the assigned role, job classification, business unit, or permission group.
  • Note: Unclaimed pooled items do not clutter individual task lists in the Assigned to Me tab until a user explicitly claims them.

 Let's walk through a scenario.....

Step 1:  Section 1 of a form is Assigned to an Individual User and displays in the user's 'Assigned to Me' tab

FE - Assigned to Me - Section 1 individual assignment

Step 2: User Completes Section 1:  

The form submission immediately transitions to the user's My Completed tab, where they retain a read-only record of their completed work and can review workflow status. 

FE - My Completed - section completed-2

Step 3:  Section 2 of the form is a 'pooled' assignment to a specific role or group.

It populates the Assigned to My Role tab for all active users who hold that role/permission group within the designated business unit. 

FE - Assigned to My Role - List of Forms

It also populates the 'My Activities' area, with  'Someone with your role must complete this form'

My Activities - Someone with role must complete form

Step 4:  User Claims section by selecting the form and FILL OUT THIS FORM or via Actions> Claim Selected button.

FE - Assigned to My Role - Fill Out This Form to Claim 2


FE - Assigned to My Role - Actions - Claim Selected

Step 5:  Form is now assigned to user and displays in 'Assigned to Me' tab

FE - Assigned to Me - Claimed and In Progress

NOTE:  If a user 'claims' a section but cannot complete it, the claim can be removed.

  • By the Claimant: The user can launch the Release Claim Wizard directly from their Assigned to Me view to return the form to the pool.
  • By a Supervisor / Form Coordinator: Authorized reviewers and managers with access to the I Can Manage tab can use the Release Claim Wizard from the Actions menu to unclaim the item on behalf of an employee.

 Why Clients Use Pooled Section Forms 

  • Eliminates Single-User Bottlenecks: Forms do not stall when an individual is out of office, on leave, or reallocated. Any qualified member of the role pool can pick up the work.
  • Efficient Workload Balancing: High-volume queues (e.g., IT provisioning, payroll reviews, shift approvals) can be handled collectively on a "first-available" basis.
  • Dynamic, Role-Based Routing: Form templates remain generic and durable; administrators do not need to update templates whenever personnel changes occur within a job classification or department.
  • Operational Oversight: Department managers and coordinators can monitor queue backlogs in Forms Explorer (I Can Manage / I Can View) and reallocate tasks using built-in wizards without IT intervention.

Practical Use Case:

Real-World Scenario 

A regional healthcare organization uses a multi-user form for Employee Position & Schedule Changes:

  • Section 1 (Initiation): Completed by the requesting Department Supervisor.
  • Section 2 (Shift Scheduling Review - Pooled): Assigned to the role pool Shift Coordinator, Operations.
  • Section 3 (Compensation & Payroll - Pooled): Assigned to the role pool Payroll Specialist, Human Resources.
  • Section 4 (Final Sign-off): Directed to Facility Administration.

 The Problem:

Prior to implementing pooled section assignments:

  • Multi-user workflows required hardcoding a specific named employee as the secondary assignee for each step.
  • When the designated Shift Coordinator went on unexpected medical leave, all pending schedule changes routed to their personal queue stalled.
  • Submitting supervisors could not easily determine who was holding the form, and other shift coordinators had no visibility into the stalled requests from their standard task screens.
  • Resolving the backlog required administrators to manually reassign each locked submission one by one.

 The Solution:

By configuring Sections 2 and 3 as Pooled Section Assignments linked to Forms Explorer:

  1. Shared Queue Visibility: When a supervisor submits Section 1, Section 2 automatically routes to the Assigned to My Role tab for all active Shift Coordinators in Operations, showing status Currently waiting to be claimed by Shift Coordinator, Operations.
  2. On-Demand Claiming: Any available Shift Coordinator reviews the queue, selects pending requests, and clicks Claim Selected. The forms transition to their Assigned to Me tab for immediate processing.
  3. Contingency Management: If an assignee claims a request but must leave before finishing, an Operations Manager opens the I Can Manage tab, runs the Release Claim Wizard, and returns the item to the pool so another coordinator can claim and complete it without delay.